The Batteau Railway

During the American War of Independence, a wave of British Loyalists moved to Upper Canada with the promise of land. As they arrived in the Bay of Quinte and travelled west to York or Newark, Asa Weller-a resident of the Carrying Place-saw an opportunity.

Batteaux-flat-bottomed boats-were commonly used in the late eighteenth century to carry supplies and goods as well as passengers travelling east and west along the north shore of Lake Ontario. At the Bay of Quinte, however, travellers were ...